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LIZA
By the time she made it back to America the role that was going to be Liza’s big break had been given to someone else. At first her agent was furious, more so when his demands to know what had happened and where Liza had been were met with shrugs and a blatant refusal to answer any questions.
Then he discovered that whatever had happened to Liza had increased her range as an actor dramatically. She could handle fear, anger and grief with the talent of someone twice her age and had become particularly good at screaming.
She had been slated to play the lead in a romantic comedy, but no-one was surprised when her big break turned out to be in a thriller instead. She even did her own stunts, which endeared her to the public, and she was usually kind to the paparazzi that began to follow her, as long as their questions didn’t get too personal.
She started dating again. Her boyfriends were usually losers with no future that everyone told her weren’t good enough for her. She made sure that none of them were into skydiving though, and adrenaline junkies or gun fanatics were dismissed by her quicker than any interviewer that dared to ask her where she drew inspiration from.
Two years after her big break she was asked to play a kidnap victim. Critics loved her performance and called it heart-breaking, haunting and frighteningly believable.
RILEY
When Riley first made it back to California he declared that he was going to join the Air Force in memory of Grant. It didn’t last long. His superiors soon approached what was left of Riley’s family, and told his mother that they were concerned for Riley’s psychological well-being. He left voluntarily before they could discharge him.
He joined Doctors Without Borders instead, where he found his pilot’s license was more than appreciated. He spent most of his time overseas, but whenever he came home he made sure to check up on them all, especially Ollie, who was now the closest thing Riley had left to a brother.
Everyone noticed that he had become a little overprotective of them all, despite being the youngest in the group, but collectively agreed not to say anything. He seemed reasonably happy, if a little worn out most of the time.
Every so often though, someone would mention the island or Riley’s brothers and a pained look would come over his face, before it was quickly replaced with a smile that everyone could tell was forced.
OLLIE
Out of them all Ollie seemed the least affected.
He spent most of his time getting stoned, playing video games, hanging out at the beach and generally spending a lot of his parents’ money, exactly as he had before the trip to Rook Island.
If he got arrested, which he did more often than anyone would have liked, then Riley would be there to bail him out, either straight away, or within a day or two if he was working. If Riley couldn’t come back to California then Mrs Brody would be begged and pleaded with by both boys until she gave in and picked up Ollie herself, always with a stern reprimand and a reminder that she and Riley were worried about him.
After a little over a year Ollie and Riley moved in together. Ollie still had his parents’ money and Riley still spent most of his time overseas, but it seemed to give Riley some sort of comfort to know that Ollie was in a safe place, so Ollie stayed where he was, getting high and waiting for Riley to come home.
KEITH
Keith took up hunting. Sometimes Ollie and Riley would join him, and when they did they noticed that Keith had a particular obsession with hunting and killing deer.
Whenever it came time to bring one down his hands would become shaky and his eyes would grow wide, but then the shot would go off, the deer would either drop dead, run off or stumble around for a while before falling, and Keith would get a strange look on his face; partially one of triumph, but mostly one of relief.
Keith had never told anyone what had happened to him on Rook Island, but if killing deer gave him some sort of peace then the rest of the group didn’t have it in them to convince him to stop, although Daisy did question his new hobby a couple of times, and refused to go on hunting expeditions with the boys.
“Think of the poor deer,” she would tell them.
Keith tried his hardest not to.
DAISY
Daisy threw herself into her training. At first she kept up with Riley, Mrs Brody and the rest of the Rook Island survivors, but as time wore on she saw them less and less, and spent more time in the pool or on the beach than she did with her friends.
She missed Grant, and unlike Liza she wasn’t quite ready to move on yet. Maybe she would find love again one day, but whenever she thought about it she knew that she just wasn’t ready yet.
Daisy knew she had been lucky, at least compared to the others. She may have almost died, but she hadn’t been tortured by her own brother nor had a maniac try to set her on fire or… whatever it was that had happened to Keith.
So instead she swam and tried to forget, but whenever she won a race, just for a second as her hand touched the pad and the world shrank around her, she thought about Jason Brody and wondered if he ever made it off Rook Island.
JASON
Jason stayed on Rook Island for a while. The Rakyat were a mess after Citra’s death and he still needed to deal with the last of the pirates and Hoyt’s mercenaries.
It didn’t take long for Dennis to forgive Jason, at least in words, but whenever the other man looked at him Jason could tell Dennis was still resentful and he couldn’t really blame him. Jason had been offered everything Dennis had ever wanted and he had tossed it aside for a group of people that meant nothing to Dennis.
Well, it hadn’t only been for them. Vaas’s words had rung in his head as he had approached the dais and he had seen them for what they had been: a warning.
He was free now though. Free to go where he wanted and do what he wanted for what felt like the first time in his life; free to hunt or swim or glide or kill and free to stand on the beach and watch his friends as they travelled away from the island and towards a place he knew he could never call home again.
Eventually, after many sleepless nights and more deaths than he could count, Jason realised that there was nothing left for him on Rook Island. The islands were completely under Rakyat control. There was no-one to save, and no-one to kill; no-one to appear with no warning and lecture him about history, the proper way to play poker, or the definition of insanity.
It was too peaceful, so he left.
He became a mercenary, drifting from place to place and taking any job that he could get, as long as it didn’t involve human trafficking. He tried to keep murdering unarmed people off the table as well, but sometimes it just couldn’t be helped, no matter what agreement he worked out with his employer beforehand.
At least he could afford to be a little picky. In the circles in which he now moved the name ‘Snow White’ was more well-known and respected than ‘Jason Brody’ had ever been. The revelation that he was the legendary killer usually guaranteed whatever position he was going for.
Sometimes his potential employer didn’t believe him. The quick, efficient dispatch of one of their guards, or a swift movement that resulted in a knife being pressed against his potential employer’s throat usually convinced them that they had been wrong to doubt.
If his employer had never heard of Snow White, then Jason knew they probably weren’t worth working for. ‘Snow White’ did not work for idiots or small fry.
He never settled in one place for long. There was always the promise of something bigger, something more intense or more exciting. If only he looked hard enough he would find it, but things were never as good as they had been on Rook Island.
Weeks passed, and then months and before he knew it almost two years had passed since he had seen Rook Island.
Then he began to hear the whispers. There was a man, some said, who was looking for Snow White and it wasn’t for a job.
At first Jason didn’t pay the rumours any attention. Jason had probably killed one of the stranger’s friends or a family member, or maybe whoever it was had missed out on a job because of him. There must have been plenty of people wandering the Earth who wanted him dead for those reasons and more.
The rumours continued and only grew more detailed and more worrying. The man had killed one of Jason’s previous employers because she hadn’t been able to tell him where Jason was. The man knew his real name and was asking after Jason Brody as well as Snow White. The man had set an entire cruise ship on fire after discovering that Jason had spent a few days on it. It had resulted in the deaths of twelve people. Those that had survived talked of a psycho with a Mohawk and a Spanish accent.
At first Jason couldn’t believe it. He managed to corner a survivor of the incident, one of the workers on the boat, who appeared to have more money and dress sense than balls, and who began shaking as soon as Jason pressed a gun to his head.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Jason told him. “I just want information.”
The man looked up at the gun that was still pressed against his forehead.
“You can nod,” Jason told him.
The man nodded.
“Did the man that attacked your boat tell you the definition of insanity?”
The man’s eyes widened as Jason spoke and he began to shake again. That was answer enough for Jason. He lowered the gun.
The man begged Jason not to kill him, and Jason didn’t. He wasn’t completely heartless after all and the man had been of some help.
Within days his employer called Jason for a meeting and announced that his contract was being cut short. Jason and his now legendary stalker were too much of a liability.
“That’s okay,” Jason told him. “I’ve got some things I need to take care of anyway.”
“So no hard feelings?” the other man asked, obviously relieved.
Did everyone really think Jason was that much of a monster? Even if he was that messed up he’d have to be an idiot to kill an ex-employer. It would terrible for Jason’s reputation and no-one would ever hire him again.
Jason shook his head.
“Well, maybe once this has all died down then we can work together again, huh Snow?”
Jason nodded.
“Good luck,” his now ex-employer told him.
“Good luck to you too,” Jason replied, “and when Vaas comes to see you, tell him I’ll be waiting for him on Rook Island.”